Sealed Inner Drum Design to Prevent Washing Machine Contamination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing washing machines with sleeved inner and outer drums face issues of dirt accumulation, reduced washing efficiency, and contamination of clothes due to water flow between the drums, leading to poor cleanliness and limited capacity.
Innovation Solution
A washing machine design featuring a sealed inner drum with a coverable drum opening, a bending portion, and a sealing ring, along with a drain valve mechanism, allowing the inner drum to rotate and hold water independently, preventing water flow between drums and enhancing cleaning efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If an inner drum and an outer drum are sleeved mutually, then water can flow between the drums to wash clothes, but dirt accumulates between the drums and bacteria increase, lowering washing efficiency and cleanliness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the outer drum from the washing machine structure, extracting the problematic component that caused dirt accumulation and bacterial growth. The inner drum is modified to serve both as the washing container and water holder, eliminating the space between drums where contamination occurred.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the functions of the inner drum and outer drum into a single integrated structure. The inner drum is designed to directly hold washing water and clothes, merging the previously separate functions of containing clothes and containing water into one unified component.
2Quantity of substance
If an inner drum and an outer drum are sleeved mutually, then water can flow between the drums, but the space between the drums cannot be cleaned by users, leading to reduced cleanliness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates the outer drum structure, removing the inaccessible space between inner and outer drums that prevented user cleaning. The single drum design allows users to access and clean all interior surfaces directly.
3Device complexity
If an outer drum is sleeved around the inner drum, then the washing machine structure is complete, but the inner drum capacity is limited and washing capacity cannot be expanded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the outer drum constraint that limited the inner drum's size. Without the outer drum, the inner drum can be enlarged to increase washing capacity while maintaining structural simplicity through direct support on the machine base.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If the inner drum is set as a closed container to hold water and clothes, then the space between drums needs no cleaning, but a sealing structure must be created at the drum opening
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an inner drum cover as an intermediary component that seals the drum opening. The cover includes a sealing ring that creates a waterproof seal between the drum opening and the cover, enabling the drum to function as a closed water-containing container while maintaining simple access for loading and unloading clothes.
Data Source
AI summary
An inner drum cover is provided at a drum opening of an inner drum of a washing machine, the inner drum cover is used to open or close the drum opening, so that the inner drum forms a closed container after the drum opening is closed by the inner drum cover. The inner drum can perform washing after the inner drum cover is correspondingly fastened to the drum opening, so that clothes only come into contact with washing water in the sealed inner drum in a washing process. In this way, a case in which the clothes are contaminated because washing water between the inner drum and an outer drum flows into the inner drum is avoided, washing cleanliness of the washing machine is greatly improved, and incomplete washing of the clothes caused by contamination of the washing water between the inner drum and the outer drum is avoided.